"This might not be much, but it’ll do for now. I used everything that we were able to trade."
Anne spoke as she handed each of us a key.
No, to be more precise, she handed a key to , Evelyn, and herself.
"You and Leon will sleep together."
Anne turned to look at Evelyn, Kiera, and Aoife.
"You three sleep together. And..."
She turned her attention towards An’as.
"You sleep with ."
"Huh...?"
An’as blinked a couple of tis. Then, looking at , he scratched the side of his chin.
"Is it appropriate? I an, I can—"
"Fuck off."
Grabbing him by the collar, she dragged him away.
The others and I could only watch the two with dumbfounded expressions as we all looked at each other. In the end, Kiera broke the silence.
"Who do you think is top?"
"...."
"No, seriously. It’s a genuine question."
"..."
"Agh, fuck. Whatever. You all are too depressing to be with."
Clicking her tongue, she snatched the keys from Evelyn’s hands as she eventually moved towards her room. Aoife and Evelyn eventually followed her from behind. I looked at the three before settling my gaze in Leon’s direction.
"Should we go?"
He still looked like shit.
His face was pale, and he looked like he needed so rest. Tossing the keys in my hand, I looked around for our room.
To be honest, this place was awful.
The old wooden floor creaked beneath each step. As I glanced at the doors lining the corridor, I noticed several cracks running through them. If soone wanted to, they could easily peek inside the rooms without much trouble.
But that wasn’t the most troubleso thing.
’The sll.’
It was the sll of this place.
That was what was truly making the place extrely bad. It was a mix of rotten and mold.
Not to the point where I would feel like puking, but enough to make repulsed.
"We’re here."
Stopping before our room, I pushed the door open and entered.
I didn’t expect much upon entering, but... that was a lie. I did have so expectations, maybe just a small hope that the room would at least be livable. But as I stared at the two beds without mattresses and the furniture falling apart, it felt like sleeping outside in the sand would probably be the better option.
"...This will do."
It seed like I was the only one who had issues with the room as Leon moved towards his bed and sat down.
At the sa ti, he closed his eyes as he circulated the mana inside his body.
Most likely, he was trying to recuperate from his injuries.
I thought about leaving him alone, but not even a few monts after, his voice reached my ears.
"That was... Mortum’s blood, wasn’t it?"
My steps paused as I looked at the floor.
Eventually, I nodded.
"Yes."
"...I see."
Leon nodded quietly.
He was well aware of my situation and thus realized what the liquid inside the vial was.
"If the blood is here, then it’s likely that he’s here too, correct?"
"Yes."
This sort of confird Panthea’s words. I had my doubts, but I was now more certain of it.
"Then..."
Leon opened his eyes, his gaze directed straight at .
"...Let participate in the Rankings."
"No."
The answer ca out imdiately.
"But why? Can’t you see the state of the room that we’re in? If we don’t do sothing quickly, then we’ll not be able to stay here any longer. We have at most a day to stay here, and I doubt we’ll be able to look for what you want in just a day."
"That’s not the point."
"Then what is?"
"The point is that we can’t expose ourselves."
Leon suddenly grew quiet.
I continued to explain, "We’re not in the Empires. We’re in the Mirror Dinsion. This isn’t a place where we can just act as we wish. We’re in fucking enemy territory. If you do choose to participate, you’ll just get every single eye directed at you. There will be a very good risk that you’ll expose yourself and us."
This was the reason why I didn’t want to participate or wanted others to participate.
Dawn had eyes and ears everywhere. We were already walking on eggshells, and the mont one of us participated in the ranking battle, we’d just be serving ourselves on a platter.
"But—"
"There are no buts."
I cut Leon off before he could get any words out.
Staring at him, I could see the deep frown on his face, alongside his troubled expression. What? Was he still troubled about what had happened against that Sand Titan?
’It wasn’t even his fault.’
Still, I didn’t tell him this.
I knew that whatever I told him at the mont regarding the Sand Titan would just go in deaf ears.
Instead...
"You were taught by Noel, right?"
"Hm?"
Leon raised his head slightly as I approached him.
I corrected myself.
"Mortum. He taught you, right?"
"To... so extent."
Even now, Leon had no idea about Noel’s true identity as Aldric. I still didn’t have it in to tell him. Nevertheless, in the years that he had been in the Evenus Household, Noel had taught him so things. Even through the Chalice.
In that case...
"Although I don’t know if you’ll be able to feel it, I’ll show you sothing."
Extending my hand, a magic circle ford on top of my palm.
"Julien?"
Stunned by my actions, Leon looked at .
I just nudged at the magic circle.
"Observe the Magic Circle carefully. Look at the insides of it. To be precise, look at the Runes. See if you can notice anything."
"What are you...?"
Despite his confusion, Leon still followed my instructions and observed the magic circle. At first, he seed confused, but eventually, he seed to have noticed sothing strange. I smiled then.
’As expected of an honor student.’
"I call the Outer Runes."
I explained the situation to Leon.
"They’re Runes that can completely change the properties of spells and the human body. I believe that the reason why the ’Gods’ were able to beco ’Gods’ was specifically because of their ability to use the Outer Runes."
Leon’s lips parted, his eyes wide at the sudden information thrown at him. But just as they opened, his lips closed.
I continued.
"Having been taught by Noel, and taking into consideration how you were able to heal from your injuries so fast, there’s a good chance that there’s so of those runes hidden within your blood."
This was just a guess from my side.
I wasn’t certain, but I had a feeling that I was close to the truth.
"Noe-I an, Mortum has most likely passed on sothing to you. If you can sohow tap into that power, you’ll be able to grow exponentially. But that depends on you. Honestly, I myself am quite new to all of this and don’t have a good grasp of everything. But I do know that you’re capable of sensing the Source. In that case, you might as well try it."
"....."
Leon didn’t answer .
It seed like he was still processing my words.
But eventually, as he looked at , he asked, "If... you’re saying that tapping onto these Outer Runes... is what made the Gods gods, doesn’t that an that you already tapping onto them make you a god?"
Suddenly, my mind went blank.
There were a lot of things that I had thought Leon would say to . From things like, ’How can I grasp this Outer Rune?’, ’What do I need to do to learn more?’, and so on... But this?
This was the last question that I expected him to ask, as I suddenly burst out laughing.
"What? What is so funny?"
"Nothing, nothing."
I covered my mouth while looking at him.
Eventually, I shrugged.
"I guess you can say that."
He wasn’t wrong with his assumption, but at the sa ti, I was still far from strong enough to be compared to the likes of them. Their understanding of the Runes was much deeper than mine, and so was their power.
Patting Leon on the shoulder, I turned my attention towards the bathroom.
"...For now, just focus on the things that you can do. Try to feel for the Rune inside your body, if you have it, and try to get a better grasp on it. Maybe then you’ll be able to beco a lot stronger."
"Mhm."
Leon nodded.
"I’ll try, but..."
"But?"
"Hmm, nevermind."
Leon shook his head, seemingly changing his mind about sothing. My eyes narrowed when I looked at him, but I decided to let it go as I headed towards the bathroom, heading to the worn-down sink to wash my hands.
Shaaa—!
As the water ran down the sink, I began to wash my hands, the cold water splashing across my fingers and running over my palms. The chill lingered against my skin as I rubbed my hands together beneath the thin stream.
I felt at ease while washing my hands, almost entranced.
"Julien."
Only to snap out of it after hearing Leon’s voice.
"How long are you going to wash your hands? It’s been almost ten minutes."
"Hm?"
I looked in Leon’s direction.
Ten minutes? What was he talking abou—
My thoughts ca to an abrupt halt as my head flicked in the direction of the mirror, and my reflection stared back at .
Catching sight of myself, my breath ca to a sudden pause.
Everything looked and moved exactly as I did.
But those eyes...
They were completely pitch-black. Staring back at as the hair at the back of my neck rose at once.
Suddenly, the air felt a lot colder as I kept my eyes glued on the eyes staring back at .
That was all that happened.
Nothing else happened in that mont, all fading after I blinked my eyes.
But that was enough.
That was... enough for to understand.
’They’ had taken notice of .
"A-ah."
My chest trembled slightly, my hand pressing against my chest as I erased all emotions from within.
"...This is not good."
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